Locomotive-superheater.



' B. RAIT- LOCOMOTIVE SUPERHEATEB. APPLlcnTloN mm APLI, 1913.

` Patented July 27, 3.915.,

3 SMEETS-SHEET l.

`G. B. RMT. LOCOMOUVE SUPERHEATER.

APPLICATION HLED APR. 7| 1913.

Patented July 27, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

` Liemers.

sra

s narrar ore-fron 'HEATER COMPANY, or New frena,

N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.

ynooonorrvn-soraannames.

` To all wilma t may conce/rn Be it known that Geenen BfRarr, a

'citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Locomotive-Superheaters; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact f 'description of the invention, such as will en- `1o able others skilledlin the art to which it ap'n pertains to make and use the saine. l My. inyention has for' its object to provide f an improvedsteam superheating device for use in connection with boilers of the locof motive type, and to such ends, generally lstated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

fines of the boiler in such manner ues, Hitherto,

` have been extended yon straight lines into the said large fines, from the front ends there- Particnlarly, this invention rela-tes to that type of super-heating` apparatus wherein the superheating tubes are placed Within large that they are subjected to the heat from the products of combustion as they pass through the said these superheating tubes of, and then returned on straight lines to `shown and described have made those tions of the superheatingl tubes which are in the emspecifically the front ends of the said fines. bodiinent of my invention herein within the dues, of spiral fornnor in the forni of coils. ln superheating apparatus of this character, it is the common practice to extend the snpcrheating tubes from a sov called saturated-stea1n header, into and then vicien't means out of the Ifines, and from thence, to a so called superheated-steam header.

. The chief feature of this invention is directed `to extremely simple and highly ofn for accomplishing the con! nections between the superheating tubes and the said headers. Briefly stated, the chief novelty of this feature consists in providing thesnoerheating tubes, at their ends, each .Y with' its own or individual .coupling head.4

These .so-called coupling heads are preferably in the :form ofsleeves having their aXes at a riht angle-to the ends of the tubes to' which they are applied,v and they tubes are preferably Welded thereto and arranged to .i receive from or deliver into said coupling heads, radially through (one side thereof. The couplingq heads arefadaptcd to be as- Speccation of LetterslPatent. Application nled April 7, 1913. Serial No. 759,315.'

por-

` course, extended from the rear 'a to the front iue sheet As shown, there i are four horizontal rovvs of these large ilues Patenten any at, inra.

sernbled or massed togetherin arialy aline` nient and in compact forno, and to be l'secured to the respective headers by extremely simple and efficient means, hereinafter more `fully described.l

ln the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, `like characters indicate like parts throughout the severa. views.

Referringtothe drawings, Figure l is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section with some parts broken away, showing' niy improved. snperheater applied to. a locomotive; lha. 2 is a vertical section taken on'the line .e2 m2 on Fig. 6; Fig. 3 is a Vertical section taken on the line w3c? on 6; i is a transverse vertical section taken approximately on the line al* :c4 on Fig. l, seine parts bonn;- broken away; Figil is an enlarged horizontal section takenbn the line m5 .fc5 on Fig. l, sonic parts beingTl left in full; Fig. '6 `View partly in plan and partly in horizontal scction, and with seine parts broken away, snowing the two headers connected or designed as a" single structure; lig? is a transverse section taken approximately" A'Qn the line ce? m7 on Fig. 3, someparts being` left in full; and Fig. 8 is a transverse section taken on the line m8 on Fig. 5.

Of the parts of the locomotive boilers, the numeral. 1 indicates the niain shell, the `nu- Amoral 2 the z'ire box, the numeral 3 the rear Aflue sheet, the ninneral a the front line sheet, the numeral 5 the smoke box, andthe nunieral 6 the rsinole stack.

The numeral 7 indicates the dry which uextends from the front flue l back tol the steam donne, not shown.

The cylinder saddle 8 is a cast structure which, in its general feature ls like the ordinary cyl inder saddle, but differs therefrom in that ithas upwardly eiztended-sleeve-like live steam passages-'9 cast integral ,therewith. These steam passages 9 are curved at their lower portions but their upper end portions are straight and are true cylinders. These passages i), as will of coni-serbe understood, lead to the steam chest,v .l i

Several of the horizontal upper rows of sheet il the fines, in the embodiment herein shown,-

'are linade of large diameter and are, of uef'sheet 2 ein@ litt) 10. The small and lower ues are not shown, but would be of usual or any suitable arrangement. All of the flue tubes may be of the same diameter, however, within the 5 spirit of the invention.

The so-called saturated steam header 11 is in the form of a hollow cast horizontally extended shell which has a receiving elbow 12c'onnected with a steam tight joint to the .trent vflue sheet 4 and communicating directly with the front end of the dry pipe 7. The so-called su'perheated steam header 13 is a hollow cast structure very similar tothe header 11, extends parallel therewith, and, as shown, is integrally cnnected thereto by a multiplicity of connecting webs 14. The header 13 is provided with two coupling elbows 15 which are connected with steam tighjoints te the upper ends of the steam delivery pipes 16. In accordance with one of the abovenoted features of my invention, then-lower ends of these steam delivery pipes '16mb-'connected to the upper ends of the steam 'passages 9 of the cylinder saddle by telescopic sliding steam tight joints. These `joi'nts are advsably, and as shown, made by a plurality of packing rings 17 set into grooves in theenlarged cylindrical lower ends of the steam pipes 16 and telescoped into .the upper' ends of the sleeve-like passages 9. These telescoped slip joints -permit expansion and contraction of the pipes 16 and of other metallic parts, including the boiler shell, without offering any considerable resistance to such movements, and without causing the said movements to strain or break any of the parts. The superheating tubes 18 have one end connected-tothe header 11 and their other ends connected to the header 13. This is accomplished in a novel manner, as already indicated. The header-11, for each vertical row of lues 10 is provided with a vertically extended cylindrical passage 19, the outer end of which is threaded to receive a clamping, plug 20, and the lower portion of which, for a considerable distance forward of the said plug, is formed with a slot 21 wide enough to receive the upper ends 'of the su erheated tubes 18. The sleeve-like coupling heads 22 which, as already stated, are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the ends of the said tubes 18, are of such diameter that they are adapted to snugly fit within the passage 19, and they are formed with beveled ends adapting them to be nested together with steam tight joints, and

with steam tight joints with the plug'20-and with beveled seats 23 formed in th` passages 19 (see particularly Figi 2). In this way, when the plug 20 is tightened, the heads 22 will be securely locked to the header, causing them to form a continuous steam tight conduit serving as part of or an extension of "the coperating passage 19. This construcsteam passages 24 have upturned rear ends,

as best shown in Fig. 3, but their lower portions are truly cylindrical and 'are preferably parallel to the passages 19. TheA heads on the delivery ends of the flues 18 are like the heads 22 and are indicated by the character 221. The saidpassage 24: is provided with slots'21 corresponding to the slots 21, and the nesting heads 222 are clamped together with steam tight joints by a plug 20, corresponding to the plug 20.

The intermediate portions of the superheating tubes 18 are bent to form spiral coils 18, that extend into the larger flues 10, through the front endsthereof and nearly to the rear ends thereof. These coils 18a are double coils, and they may be made in dit` ferent ways, integral or otherwise. As shown, however, they are made in two parts screwed together and with their inner rear ends connected by U-shaped couplings or return bends 25, which preferably have spacing lugs 26 that serve to hold the tubes above the centers of the flues, as best shown in Fig. 8, so that the burning products of combustion find free passage at the bottoms of the said fiues 10. This arrangement causes the products of combustion to pass between and around the turns of the coils, and thereby to maintain intimate contact with the said tubes throughout the passage thereof through the tlues. Also, these coils tend to set up a whirling or 4spiral motion of the products` of combustion which retards their movement, and thereby obtains the maXimum heating efhciency. Also, the coils very greatlyincrease the length of the tubes and correspondingly increase the heating surface exposed to direct contact with the flames or products of combustion.

It is highly important to note that the double twist coils 18a of the tubes of the superheater are at all oints located above the lower internal sur aces of the ues, so that cinders willk not be caused to lodge or accumulate within the hues.

stop and accumulate within the flues with obvious, very bad results.

l do not limit my invention, in its broader aspects, to the specific construction shown If the lower A portions of the said coils were permitted to touch the bottoms of the internal surfaces. of the hues, they would cause the cinders tov fio and described herein as many details may be varied Without departing 'from the spirit of the invention as dened by the claims.

Thus while I have shown twisted super-` heater elements or tubes I may use the usual straight tubes and While I'have shown a particular construction of nested tube head, other forms of heads may be employed without altering the character of the results attained or detracting from the' advanta es obtained. My inventionis, of course, quite independent of the particular type of headers used as Weld as of the general arrangement andV location of said headers.

lhat I claim is:

l. A superheater comprising wet steam and superheated steam. headers and superheating tubes connecting said headers, said headers having longitudinally slotted tubular passages opening thereinto, and the said tubes at their ends having sleeve-like heads nested together in axially alined rows within said tubular passages and clamped together therein with steam tight joints.

2. A superheater comprising Wet steam and superheated steam headers, each having a plurality of slotted tubular passages opening tliereinto, and superheating tubes connecting said headers and the said tubes, at their ends, having sleeve-like heads axially nested together in rows within said tubular seats with the connected ends of said tubes passed through the slots thereof, and clamping plugs screwed into the ends of said tubular seats and holding the heads of the said tubes detachably but rigidly together with steam tight joints.

3. The combination with a boiler having lues, of a superheater comprising wet steam and superheated steam headers, each header having a plurality of slotted tubular passages opening thereinto, super-heating tubes having coils extended into said ues and at their ends having sleeve-like heads nested together in rows in said tubular passages,

substantially as described.

il'. The combinationwvith a boiler having fines', of a superheater comprising wet steam' andsuperheated steam headers, each header having a plurality of slotted tubular passages opening therein'to, superheating tubes having coils extended into said lues and at `their ends having sleeve-like heads nested heads together with steam tight joints, substaiutially` as described.

5. In a fiue tube boiler having a pair of headers and sup'erheater tubes inserted in some of the iue tubes, individual sleeve like heads connecting said tube ends to the headers said heads being nested together.'

6. In a flue tube boiler having a pair of headers and superheater tubes inserted in some of the Hue tubes, individual sleeve like heads connecting said tube ends to the headers said heads being nested together in axially alined rows.

7. In a flue tube boiler having a pair of headers and superheater tubes inserted in soine of the fine tubes, individual sleeve like heads detachably connecting said tube ends to the headers said heads being nested to` gather.

"8. in a fine tube boiler havin a pair of headers and superheater tubes inserted in some of the iiue tubes, individual sleeve like heads detachablv connecting said tube ends to the heads said heads being nested together and means for clamping said nested heads together and to the headers.

9. In combination with a boiler having fiues, a superheatr comprising saturated and super-heated steam headers connected respectively to steam supply and en ine c linders, superheater tubes in some o the ue tubes, and an Aindividual head for each tube end said head having a passage the superheated ends and the saturated ends being in`- dependently grouped in rows with their heads nested together and with the passage in each head opening into its appropriate header. y

In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses. g

GEORGE B. RAlT.

Witnesses:

F. D. MERCHANT, HARRY D. KiLeoRE. 

